


Unusual

by mightypocketcow



Category: Smosh
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Some angst, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, i love them as like pseudo siblings, platonic shayne n courtney
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-05-19 19:16:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19362769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mightypocketcow/pseuds/mightypocketcow
Summary: Damien Haas has been having a normal day.  Until he gets to work, and realizes that there's a lot of unusual things happening.It's not unusual for comedic genius Shayne Topp to be nervous, but for him to keep a secret from his best friend?  That, Damien decides, is unusual.  And it's all Joven's fault.A series of unusual events; some arguments, some misunderstandings, a plethora of unread texts, and a whole lot of feelings.  What secrets are Damien and Shayne keeping from each other, and can Courtney and Mari work together to fix it?A multi-chapter Shaymien fic, by fault of Deem.





	1. Unusual Behaviour

          It was a day like any other day… Well, at least it started like any other day.  
         Damien Haas was running late for work, which wasn’t unusual. He had texted Shayne to let him know, asking him to apologize on his behalf to Ian and Matt Raub. Shayne didn’t text him back, which was a bit unusual, but he figured maybe he was getting ready for a shoot or something, which wouldn’t be unusual. He texted his group chat with Mari, Joven and Lasercorn to see if they wanted anything from Starbucks, since he was going to be filming a Smosh Games video with them today, which wasn’t unusual.  
       Joven responded right away, demanding food. That wasn’t unusual. Mari responded in a few minutes, asking simply for some kind of latte. That wasn’t unusual.  
          Lasercorn simply never responded. That wasn’t unusual.  
          Shayne was the first person Damien saw when he walked into the designated Smosh office. That wasn’t unusual. Shayne was usually the first person Damien saw, because usually Shayne was waiting for him. Courtney was with him. That also wasn’t unusual. They were walking down the hallway, lost in conversation, and seemed to be arguing about something.  
          And that, Damien decided, was unusual.  
          His eyes followed them down the hallway as they passed the doorway where he was standing, and they didn’t even glance at him. That was also unusual.  
          “… don’t know what the hell your problem is, Shayne.” He heard Courtney say in exasperation as they approached. “There’s nothing wrong with just having a conversation.”  
          “It’s not just a conversation, Courtney.” Shayne spat angrily. “You try declaring your love for someone who’s in love with someone else someday; let me know how well that goes for you.”  
          Wait, what?  
          Damien’s heart skipped a beat, or maybe two, or possibly seven. Shayne was in love with someone? His Shayne? His best friend and platonic soulmate? His unrequited love and favourite person in the world? Shayne would have told him, right? Was Shayne keeping a secret from him? That would be just impossibly unusual.  
          Unless he somehow found out about Damien’s crush on him. Maybe that’s why he didn’t tell him. Maybe that’s why he didn’t text Damien back this morning!  
          As he continued to watch Shayne and Courtney’s retreating backs, his breathing began to speed up and his heart was beating wildly. The only person who knew about his feelings for Shayne was Joven, who had found out by accident just a week prior. If he had told Shayne about it, it would explain the unusual behaviour.  
          It was time to pay Mr. Platinum a visit.  
          Down the hall Damien went, towards the gaming room, and he was getting so worked up that one could practically see steam pouring out from his ears. He passed by the room that Shayne and Courtney had stepped into, but didn’t even bother looking at them.  
          Shayne’s eyes glanced at the door just as Damien stormed by, and his eyebrows furrowed. “Wait, what’s Damien so mad about?”  
          Courtney followed his gaze, and they both peeked their heads out the door to watch as Damien continues to stomp down the hallway loudly, and they are both startled when they hear him yell for Joven as he slams the door to the gaming room open.  
          “Well, whatever Joven did, I kinda feel bad for the guy. Damien looked really mad.” Courtney stated as they stepped back into the empty room.  
          “Yeah, I haven’t seen him that angry in a long time. Not since that one time when we were at Target and –”  
          “Don’t get off-topic, Shayne. We were having an important discussion here.” Courtney teased.  
          “I already told you, there’s no way in hell I’m going to tell Damien about my feelings. I would lose him as a friend. I couldn’t live with that.” He lowered his voice to nearly a whisper, more thinking out loud than conversing. “I couldn’t live without him.”  
          “Shayne…” She said softly. “I don’t think there’s a single thing you could say to him that would make you lose him. You two are basically soulmates; whether that’s in a romantic way or in a platonic way, I couldn’t tell you. You won’t know until you try.”  
          “Pretty sure I’d lose him as a friend if I said to him that I murdered his cats.”  
          Courtney chuckled, nodding her head. “Yeah, that’s true. He’d never speak to you again.”  
          “But how do I know he would still speak to me after I told him the truth?”  
          She sighed. “I guess technically you don’t, Shayne. But I know both of you, and I’m seeing this from the outside… without anxiety, you know, clouding my judgement or whatever. The worst thing that could possibly happen within the realm of in-character possibilities is that the feeling isn’t mutual and it’s a bit awkward for like a month before you both laugh it off and forget about it.”  
          Shayne bit his lower lip, his mind racing. “I hope you’re right, Courtney.”  
          “Of course I’m right. I’m always right. Now let’s go; Keith will be pissed if we’re late to the first readthrough of his new script.”


	2. Unusual Conversation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damien couldn't possibly be more angry if he wanted to. Shayne doesn't understand why Damien is so mad, and Damien doesn't understand why he can't look Shayne in the eyes.

_Courtney followed his gaze, and they both peeked their heads out the door to watch as Damien continues to stomp down the hallway loudly, and they are both startled when they hear him yell for Joven as he slams the door to the gaming room open._

* * *

 

“JOVEN!”  Damien bellows as he stands in the doorway, one hand on the door he just slammed open and the other on the frame. 

Joven starts, jumping nearly three feet off his chair, and he turns to look at Damien with wide eyes.  "Damien?"

"You have a  _lot_ of explaining to do right now, Joshua Ovenshire."  Damien growls, stalking over to Joven's chair as he kicks the door shut behind him.  "Did you tell him?  Did you tell Shayne?"

"Tell Shayne _what_?"  Joven squeaks, sliding down in his chair and cowering away from Damien's murderous gaze.  Upon Damien's eyes narrowing, he adds in a scared, defensive tone, "I haven't even talked to Shayne today."  

"Did you tell him what I told you last week?"  Damien clarifies, folding his arms across his chest as he continues to glare at the man below him.  "He won't even look at me this morning."

"What did you tell me last week that's such a secret?"  As soon as the words slip out, Joven knows in that exact moment that he fucked up.  Based on the look that crossed Damien's face -- some mixture between devastation and homicidal rage -- he _definitely_ fucked up.

"About --" He suddenly stops, looking around.  His eyes go wide as he becomes aware that there's someone else in the room, and he makes eye contact with Mari.  "...uh..." It really wasn't like him to not see someone sitting basically right in front of him, but everything was a bit unusual this morning already.

"Damien, if you're trying to avoid saying in front of me that you have a big giant crush on Shayne Topp, don't worry about it.  I'm well aware."  Mari smirks. 

He sends an infuriated glare in Joven's direction, and Joven cowers further into his chair.

Before he can start yelling once more, Mari speaks again.  "It's really, really obvious, Damien.  Like, really obvious."

"Joven didn't know before he found out last week!"  Damien protested.

"Joven is an oblivious little shit."  She deadpans, and Joven gasps in mock offense.  "Besides, I spend more time with you and Shayne together than he does.  I've seen the way you look at him when he's not looking at you."

He flushes.  "Yeah, well..."  He trails off, knowing he has no defense against that truth.

"First of all!"  Joven sits up, finally ready to jump to his own defense.  "I am  _not_ an oblivous little shit--"

"--you didn't know for years that Kate had feelings for you, despite her horribly desperate flirting--"  Mari interjected.

"--and  _second_ of all!"  Joven ignores her.  "I did not tell Shayne a damned thing.  I honestly forgot about that conversation like an hour after it happened until now."

"Well, if you didn't, then who did?"  Damien throws his hands in the air in exasperation.  "He's being so unusual this morning; there's no way in hell he hasn't found out!"

"What do you mean, unusual?"  Mari's eyebrows furrow together in concern.

"Well..."  And he relays the unusual conversation he overheard between Shayne and Courtney.  "And he didn't even look at me when they walked by!"

"Wait, Shayne  _likes_ someone?"  Joven's eyes go wide, and a dumb grin spreads across his face.  "Oh, this will be  _so_ fun to tease him about."

"You won't tease him about a damned thing, Joven."  Mari turns and scolds him before looking back at Damien.  "Did he say who it was?"

"No."  Damien sighs.  "But he didn't answer my text this morning, and he didn't look at me, and he hasn't told me anything about it, so I have to assume that somehow he found out that I like him and now he's avoiding me and he doesn't wanna be my friend anymore and I'm going to lose him forever and--"

"Damien." Mari stands up, putting her hand on his shoulder and   "You aren't going to lose him over this.  Even if he did find out, there's no rule that says friends can't still be friends after one professes their love.   Did you know that Sohinki had a massive crush on me when we first started Smosh Games?"

"Wait, what?" Damien blinks in surprise, and Joven ~~busts a nut~~ bursts into laughter.  "Seriously?"

Mari nods, grinning.  "Yep.  He took quite a few months before he told me about it, but he didn't know I was already seeing Peter, so I let him down easy... he was super chill about it and was like, 'Yeah sure I get it, I hope he makes you happy' and then made some joke about calling him if he ever broke my heart."

Joven snorted.  "He also tried to assert dominance over Peter when he met him for the first time by nearly breaking his hand."

"Yeah..." Mari smirks.  "Peter had bruises on his hand for a week."

"Wow." Damien shakes his head with a grin.  "I never knew that." 

"But you see?  Sohinki and I still friends, and you would never know that something like that ever happened.  There's definitely hope for you and Shayne."

_Besides_ , Mari thinks to herself,  _there's no way this mysterious person Shayne likes isn't Damien._

"I hope you're right."  Damien sighs.

Not long later, in the meeting room claimed by the squad, Shayne is having a really hard time focusing on Keith's script.

"Shayne!"  Keith snaps his fingers in front of Shayne's face, and he looks up from the script like he's coming out of a daze.  "Come on, dude, pay attention!  You know I worked hard on this!"

"Sorry, man, I'm just not focusing well today."  He admits, blinking a few times to stare at the lines in front of him.

"Dude, what's wrong with you today?" Olivia asks in confusion.

"Shayne's being a whiny baby about unrequited love."  Courtney snickers.

The others whoop out loud as Shayne sends her a death glare.  "Thanks a lot, Courtney."

"What?  It's not like it's not obvious."  She winks at him.

"It's Damien, isn't it?"  Noah pokes him in the shoulder, and Shayne scoots a bit further away, blushing.  "It's totally Damien!"

"Shut  _up_ , Noah."  Shayne mutters, but nobody seems to hear him.

"Oh my fucking-- you absolutely have to tell him!  You guys would be so cute together!"  Olivia swoons.

"You're already basically married anyways."  Keith rolls his eyes.  "Might as well get some sex out of it."

"K-Keith!"  Shayne sputters, his face beet red as the others (especially Courtney) die of laughter.  "You can't just-- I can't-- there's no-- he's not--  _KEITH!_ "

"Come on, Shayne, we all know it would be perfect.  Just tell him how you feel and get it over with."  Noah says with a gentle smile and a shoulder nudge.

"You two are so compatible, man, I've been spending all morning telling you that."  Courtney adds.

"Yeah, I know."  It's Shayne's turn to roll his eyes.  "Not that I had anything better to do than to deal with the consequences of you accidentally discovering my secrets or anything."

"How did you find out, Court?"  Olivia is clearly intrigued, leaning forward and pressing her hands together.

"Well, he gave me a ride to work because my car is in the shop, and I was looking at his phone this morning in his car--"

"All you were supposed to do was put on some music!"  Shayne whines.

"--shut up Shayne-- and I accidentally opened up his notes instead of his music app and up came this poem about unrequited love..."

"A poem!?"  Olivia squeals, knocking over her (sealed) metal water bottle in her excitement.

"Oh hell yeah, that's some rom-com shit right there."  Keith grins, leaning over to pick it up.

"What did it say?"  Noah demands.

"You guys are jerks."  Shayne continues to whine, burying his blushing face in his hands.

"It was so cute and romantic so I was reading it and it said Damien's name in one of the lines!"  Courtney says dramatically.  "Naturally, I asked him about it, and he almost crashed the car, he slammed on the brakes so hard."

"You're never allowed to touch my phone again."  Shayne glares at her as the others chuckle.

"Can we read it?"  Olivia asks excitedly.

"No!"  Shayne yells, jumping up out of his chair and knocking it over, and backing against the nearby wall in a panic.  "God, no!"

"What's going on in here?"  Matt Raub opens the door, sticking his head in.  "What's with all the yelling and banging?  Aren't you guys just supposed to be reading a script?"

"They're verbally attacking me!"  Shayne protests, pointing at the others accusingly.

"Oh, okay."  Matt shrugs and closes the door, walking away.

"Some help you are!"  Shayne yells as the others cackle in amusement.  He heads for the door, but is almost hit in the face when it opens again.  

"Hey, has anyone seen-- oh."  Damien makes eye contact with Shayne and immediately looks away.  "Nevermind, I didn't realize you guys were busy."

"Damien!  We were just talking about you!"  Olivia throws her hands up in delight, smirking.  

"I-I'm just looking for Lasercorn, we're supposed to start shooting soon..." Damien stammers, flustered and blushing, staring at the floor and not looking at anybody.  "I'm gonna go."

"Wait, Damien!  We totally need you for something!"  Noah protests, but Damien mutters something about needing to find Lasercorn and quickly shuts the door, shuffling away.

The rest of the squad looks silently at Shayne, who simply stares at the closed door where Damien stood moments before.

"Well..." Olivia says finally.  "That was kinda unusual."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Leave a kudos and/or a comment if you like it!  
> I know the last chapter was past tense and this one is present tense but honestly, folks, I hate writing in past tense. Let's pretend the other one was a flashback/backstory, okay?  
> Be safe and healthy, and have a great day!


	3. Unusual Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damien and Shayne can't even be in the same room. Mari and Courtney start to take matters into their own hands, with an unexpected accomplice; enough is enough.

_"Wait, Damien!  We totally need you for something!"  Noah protests, but Damien mutters something about needing to find Lasercorn and quickly shuts the door, shuffling away._

_The rest of the squad looks silently at Shayne, who simply stares at the closed door where Damien stood moments before._

_"Well..." Olivia says finally.  "That was kinda unusual."_

* * *

 

"Damien?"  Wes says softly, putting his hand on Damien's shoulder.  "You okay, bud?"

Damien blinks, focusing his gaze on the man in front of him for the first time in the entire conversation they'd been having for five minutes.

Well, if by conversation you could mean 'Wes has been talking about various important and unimportant things for five minutes and Damien hasn't been paying attention'.

"Yeah... yeah, Wes, I'm good.  Sorry."  He gives a horribly fake smile that even Wes can see right through.  "I'm just tired, that's all."

"Alright..."  Wes says cautiously.  He relays back the important things that bear repeating, then excuses himself to find Mari.

 

"Hey, Wes, have you seen Damien or Mari?"  Courtney asks as they pass each other in the hallway.

"Damien's back in the Games editing room, but I'm also looking for Mari."

"Oh.  Well, let's look for her..."  Courtney's reply is cut short as Mari appears around the corner.

"Oh, hey guys."  Mari grins at Wes, then turns to Courtney.  "Courtney, I need to talk to you."

"Is it about Damien acting weird?  Because I want to address that too."  Wes states.

"Okay, if even Wes has noticed then we need to do something."  Courtney tosses her hands in the air in exasperation.

"Hey, what do you mean 'even' me?"  Wes counters, mockingly offended.

"You're nearly as oblivious as Joven."  Mari rolls her eyes.  "Anyways, he and Shayne still won't be in the same room together and it's starting to cause issues and a lot of tension..."

"You're damn right it's causing issues."  A voice comes from behind Wes, and they turn to see Matt Raub standing there with an irritated look on his face.  "Not only are fans noticing the tension and making endless comments about it, but it's causing issues with scheduling and skits and filming.  They're supposed to work opposite each other in this next skit and I have no idea how to fix them so that they'll work together again.  I can't tell what the problem is because neither of them will talk to me."

"They're in love with each other and are too stupid to figure it out."  Courtney crosses her arms over her chest, ignoring Wes' gasp of surprise/excitement.  "We need to get them to realize it before their friendship is destroyed, along with the entire Smosh family.  It's been two weeks since they've even looked at each other."

"It can't be that bad, can it Matt?"  Mari asks.

"It isn't, not yet.  But fans are crazy, especially the ones that 'ship' Damien and Shayne.  'Shaymien', I think is the name.  They've been getting more aggressive in the comments of not only our videos but their Instagram pages, livestreams, and Facebook and Twitter feeds.  It's going to get out of hand and toxic."

"Then what the hell do we do?" 

"I have a plan."  grins Courtney.

 

"Damien!"  Mari yells from down the hall.  "Damien, where are you?"

"I'm over here, Mari."  Damien calls from the Games editing room, and he peeks his head out of the door frame.  He sees her peeking her own head out of one of the Smosh Pit filming rooms.  "What's up?"

"Wes and I need your help with something when you're done editing today.  Can you come to the conference room around three?"

"Uh, yeah, sure."

"Thanks!"  And just as suddenly as she appeared, she was gone.

 

"Come on, guys, what the hell?"  Shayne protests as the Squad plunks him into a chair and surrounds him.

Olivia, sitting on the table beside him, speaks up.  "We're not letting you leave this chair until you confess."

"Confess what?  I didn't steal your damned Oreos, alright?"

"First of all..."  Noah begins, huffing.  "I don't even believe you.  Those Oreos were there before you took lunch and gone when I took lunch right after you."

"It wasn't me!"

"Bullshit."  Noah rolls his eyes.

"Alright, cut it out."  Keith stands up from his seat on the other side of Shayne, also on the table.  "The Oreos ain't the issue here."

"Then what is it?"  Shayne grumbles.

"You need to 'fess up about your feelings for Damien.  You still won't admit it but we all know it's true.  You won't even look at him anymore."  Olivia states.

"I don't have time for this shit."  Shayne's expression darkens at the mention of Damien's name, and he clenches his jaw.  "I don't have to tell you guys a damned thing."

"Shayne..."  Courtney starts softly.  "We're not doing this to try to hurt you.  We want to help you.  You just need to let it out.  We know you're mad at Damien for something, but we also know you--"

"I'm not mad at Damien!"  Shayne yells defensively.  "It's him that's mad at me!  I didn't do anything to him and two weeks ago he just stopped talking to me!  Ever since that day we were reading the script in the conference room!"  His eyes fill with tears that threaten to spill, but he doesn't let them.  "I just hope he didn't hear what we were talking about.  I don't want him to know."

"Want him to know what, Shayne?"  asks Olivia gently.

"That I'm--"  Shayne stops, looking at his lap.  "I'm... I just... I'm kind of... I think I'm in love with him?"

Keith and Olivia sigh dreamily under their breaths, and Courtney breathes a sigh of relief. 

"But I don't know what to do.  I didn't tell him because I didn't want to lose him as a friend and now I've already lost him and I don't even know why.  Ever since I met him I've just thought he was the greatest man in the world, even before I realized I was bi.  Eventually I realized that it was like, 'holy shit I've fallen for my best friend' but it took forever to realize that's what it was.  And even longer to admit it to myself.  And now it's just... all for nothing.  I don't know why he's so mad at me.  We've never had an argument before, I haven't had to live life without him in years.  I need him.  I don't even know how to sleep or eat properly.  He's so mad at me that I can't even be in the same room as him without wanting to cry..."  Shayne's voice trails off as it cracks, and the tears that threatened to spill earlier finally win the battle and begin to stream down his face.

They all take turns giving him words of comfort, except Noah, who is simply trying his best to conceal the phone in his hand that's set to record the entire conversation.

 

"Damien, right on time."  Mari says, greeting him as he walks in the door.  "Have a seat."

"Is this an intervention?"  Damien half-heartedly jokes, and Wes chuckles.

"Sort of."  Mari gives a soft smile.  "We need your help with this audio clip Noah sent us..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a kudos or a comment if you'd like!! Thank you for being patient for Chapter 3.  
> Be safe and healthy, and have a great night!


	4. Unusual Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally. Finally things are going as planned. Finally, things that need to be said are being said.

_"Damien, right on time."  Mari says, greeting him as he walks in the door.  "Have a seat."_

_"Is this an intervention?"  Damien half-heartedly jokes, and Wes chuckles._

_"Sort of."  Mari gives a soft smile.  "We need your help with this audio clip Noah sent us..."_

* * *

 

"I can't believe it..." Damien whispers, tears running down his face.  "I can't fucking believe... he thinks I'm mad at him?  He's the one that's mad at me!  He wouldn't even tell me who... fuck, wait.  Wait.  I'm the one he's in love with?  It's... me?  He... Shayne's in love with me?  What the..." Damien mumbles to himself, processing the contents of the clip to himself at a painfully slow rate.

Mari, listening to his ranting patiently, speaks up after a few minutes.  "Damien..."

He looks up at her, and his eyes are bloodshot and he looks like he's been crying for hours even though they'd only been in the room for fifteen minutes.  "I fucked up, Mari.  I fucked up big time.  I'm going to lose him.  He thinks I hate him.  How old is this clip?  Does he think I hate him and now he's moved on?  How do I fix this?  I don't know what to do, Mari."

"Damien."  She says again, and he stops rambling for a moment and just stares at her face.  "This clip is from like an hour ago.  Shayne is still here, at the office.  You need to fix this; you need to go to him and tell him the truth.  This whole fiasco has gotten out of hand and it's affecting your work and his work and it needs to end.  And now you know the truth, so you can fix it and end it."

"But..." Damien starts.

"No, Damien.  No buts.  Go find Shayne, now."  Wes' voice is gentle but surprisingly firm.  "You both deserve for this to end."

Damien takes one last look at the two of them before standing up and bolting out of the conference room.

 

"Shayne!"  He speeds down the hall, shouting at the top of his voice.  "Shayne!"

"Whoa, Damien, slow down!"  Damien almost collides with Matt Raub coming out of one of the rooms.  "Shayne's just gone down to the lobby, he's on his way out for supper with the squad."

Without another word, Damien turns and runs towards the stairs, not bothering to wait for the elevator as he sprints downwards, jumping down the last few steps of every flight and nearly slamming into the wall at every platform.

"Shayne!"  Damien yells as he exits the staircase, almost entirely out of breath but somehow still running.  "Shayne!"

Shayne, nearly out the door with Courtney, turns at the sound of his voice and his face pales out of anxiety when he sees the source.  "Damien...?"

"Shayne..."  Damien catches up to him, then bends over, trying to catch his breath.  "Shayne... I... you..."  He pants, desperately trying to express himself without passing out.

"Damien, what the hell?  Did you just run all the way down here?"  Courtney asks.

Damien can only nod.

Courtney shakes her head.  "I'll be outside, you two need to talk."

"Wait, don't leave me here!"  Shayne protests as she walks out the door, then turns hesitantly to Damien, who is still struggling for air.  "Damien...?"

"Shayne..."  He gasps again, standing somewhat upright and placing both hands on Shayne's shoulders, breathing heavily.  "I... need... to..."

"...you need to talk to me?"  Shayne finishes, and Damien nods.  "Well, clearly you can't, so shall I just guess what it is?"  He continues darkly, glowering at Damien.

The other man shakes his head firmly.  "No... I don't... think you know... what I want... to say..."

Shayne's expression softens.  Maybe it was worth letting Damien speak?

"I know... that you... like me..."

Nope.  That wasn't worth it.  Shayne shrugs Damien's hands off of him and jabs a finger into his still-heaving chest.  "I don't know what kind of 'we can still be friends' bullshit you're trying to pull right now but it's clearly not going to work, seeing as you haven't even talked to me in two weeks!"

"Listen..."  Damien tries.

"No, Damien, you listen.  I have been worried sick about what I might have done to lose you in the last two weeks..."  Shayne's eyes threaten to spill over with tears for the second time that afternoon.  "And now you're going to try to pretend that it's all okay?  And you're going to try and pretend that me having feelings for you isn't going to ruin our friendship when it obviously already has?  Fuck you, Damien."  Shayne's voice breaks, and the tears roll down his cheeks.  "I don't want to talk about it, especially not with you."

Shayne turns to leave, but Damien grips his arm.  "Shayne... I..." He gasps for a big breath of air, so as to not let his being-out-of-shape prevent Shayne from hearing his whole sentence.  "I really like you too."

Shayne could very easily have made a new meme from the double-take expression that crossed his face just then.  "Excuse me?"

"Shayne... I'm... sorry... I wanted to... tell you... and I was... just scared..."  Damien's eyes fill with tears too, but they spill over immediately.  "I just... didn't want... to lose you... and... these last two weeks... I thought... you were mad at me..."

"What could I possibly be mad at you for?"

"I thought... that maybe you found out... that I liked you..."  Damien's breath had returned to basically normal, but now he was struggling with the fact that he was crying.  "I thought that... maybe you didn't want to be... friends anymore."

"Damien..."  Shayne says softly, bringing a hand to the other man's cheek.  "I'm so sorry that you thought I was mad at you."

"And I'm sorry that you thought I was mad at you!"  Damien replied.

"Can we... can we start over?"  Shayne asks sheepishly.

"Uh... Hi, I'm Damien Haas?"  

Shayne laughs.  "No, not that far back. Just... I really like you, Damien, and I want to go on a date."

Damien grins; the first true smile he'd had in two weeks.  "I really like you too, Shayne, and I'd love to go on a date with you."

The men embrace, and from their position standing in front of the elevator, Wes and Mari have the perfect view of the reunited soulmates.  

"Huh." Wes says with a raised eyebrow and a smile.  "That was kind of an unusual start to a relationship."

"Wes..."  Mari shakes her head in amusement.  "Everything about those two is unusual."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading the first chapter of the first fic I've ever posted on AO3! If you like it, please leave kudos and/or a comment! There will probably be three more chapters to this.  
> Be safe and healthy, and have a great day!


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